Ɛpsilon

To H. C. F. Jenkin   30 April [1873]1

Down, | Beckenham, Kent.

April 30th

Dear Sir

I have been much pleased by your kind remembrance of me, shown by your present of your treatise on Electricity & Magnetism.—2 I wish with all my heart that I was more worthy to receive it, but I differ widely from you in being much confined in my studies. Whereas you have written, as I have often said, not only in some respects the best, but the most witty review, which has ever appeared in one branch of natural history, viz on my Origin of Species.3

With my best thanks & respect, I remain Dear Sir | Yours faithfully | Charles Darwin

1
The year is established by the reference to Jenkin 1873 (see n. 2, below).
2
Jenkin’s textbook, Electricity and magnetism (Jenkin 1873), was published in the beginning of May 1873 (Publishers’ Circular, 16 May 1873, p. 338). CD’s copy has not been found.
3
Jenkin had written a review of Origin ([Jenkin] 1867) that CD described as having given him ‘much trouble’ but also as having been ‘of more real use’ than any other essay or review (Correspondence vol. 17, letter to J. D. Hooker, 16 January [1869]).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-8304,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-8304